Slim Chance

When
I heard that Slim Chance were arriving in Wimborne at the height of the town’s
folk festival my imagination slipped into overdrive.

What
amazing possibilities could be in store? This brilliant band of travelling troubadours
surrounded by a couple thousand folk dancers. It seemed so close to the
original ethos of Slim Chance.

Formed
in the 1970s by the late and much lamented Small Faces/Faces bassman Ronnie
Lane, the band would arrive at gigs in a convoy of fairground and circus buses
surrounded by fire-eaters, jugglers and clowns.

In
the event the Folk Festival kept its distance as the 21st century incarnation
of Slim Chance slipped into the town’s Tivoli Theatre on Saturday night, played
a haphazard set dogged by sound problems and slipped quietly out again.

It
was a shame because when Lane’s inspirational band was re-established a couple
of years ago by original members, fiddle player Charlie Hart, guitarists Steve
Simpson and Alun Davies, bass player Steve Bingham, drummer Colin Davey and longtime friend the keyboard
player Geraint Watkins it quickly became clear that the spirit of the original was
still very much present.

Everything
was set on Saturday for a great night. Top players (between them they’ve
performed with everyone from Van Morrison to Eric Clapton, Cat Stevens to Carl
Perkins) with a common loathing for the stifling corporate ways of the music
business, intent on an evening of fine music and gentle fun. It could have been
fantastic.

They
certainly played great songs. Classic numbers from the Ronnie Lane years like
The Poacher, Debris, One For the Road and How Come. There were covers too,
including Dylan’s When I Paint My Masterpiece. Beautiful performances with a
lot of sublime interplay. Sadly the muddy
sound - only partially corrected in the second half - did for the atmosphere.